The Joy of Life
by charmony
Summary: LW10 - The Hotchner family wishes to welcome the arrival of their three youngest children into the world...find out finally what combination of triplets Emily and Aaron are having.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay, this next instalment will be among the last of this set. I had never intended to do more than one, so having nine out was surprising. But this series must come to an end, so there will be this one (both parts), and one or two more to wrap it up. Hope you have enjoyed the ride as much as I have.**

**Your continued support and encouragement keep me going and totally cheer me. I particularly appreciate your kind words in light of how serious I took this light-hearted, fluffy series in the last piece. My thanks go out to Wtiger5, greengirl82, Hazmatt, bhernandez02897, HGRHfan35, melodic2686, megameighteen, MeGkAtHeRiNe (for Fulfilling a Little Boy's Wish) and HPforever-after. You are ALL wonderful and this author is truly grateful to have you all onboard.**

**I totally couldn't do this without my amazing beta, medical guru and sister Wtiger5. Love you honey; thanks just doesn't cover it, especially knowing how crazy your schedule and computer have been lately.**

**This is Life's Wishes 10 and has some mild adult themes.**

The Joy of Life – chapter 1

_Thirty-four weeks._

"Get some rest. Get _lots_ of rest now, while you still can."

_Easy for you to say, you aren't the size of a beached blue whale._

"I'll be back to check on you a bit later."

_Yeah you will; you'll wait until I've just drifted off to sleep and then you'll bound in with your perky energetic smile and start making things beep and contract and essentially doing everything you can to wake me up. And then you'll tell me to get more rest which I won't be able to do because by then I will be wide awake again._

"Right then, I'll see you later Emily."

_Impertinent child._

Emily watched the pretty red-head that was her nurse, Julia, bounce out of the room and seriously thought about poking her tongue out at the back of that silky head of hair. But the act itself would take energy that she seriously didn't have, so she shifted her attention to her abdomen and went back to her contemplation of her situation that had been so rudely interrupted not five minutes before.

_Everyone told me that I'd never make it to thirty-four weeks. They all said that I'd be pushing it to get to thirty. But we're proving them wrong, aren't we little ones? You're still in there, growing and healthy and generally making mummy daily more uncomfortable and the doctors more excited. But it won't be long now. They all keep saying that I could make it to full-term, but we know better, don't we? And how do we know? We just do._

"Hey gorgeous."

_Always with the interruptions. Well, at least these two are worth it right?_

She smiled warmly at her husband and made a sound of delight as she caught sight of the object in Jack's hands as Aaron lifted him to sit on the edge of the bed. She hugged him, careful not to crush that carefully folded object, and reveled in the eager hug he gave her in return. Then he shifted his hands and held them out to her.

"I made this for you Mummy," he said shyly.

She took the carefully constructed flower made of red tissue paper. "Jack, this is beautiful. Did you do it all by yourself?"

"Almost. I needed Daddy to help a little bit. He said you can't have real flowers cause they were making you sick, so I thought a paper flower could brighten up the room without the smell. Do you like it?"

She reached out and pulled him in tight to her, ignoring the persistent pain in her lower back as she leant forward. "Jack, I _love_ it. It's absolutely perfect and its clear that you spent a lot of time on it."

After going in to premature labour at twenty-four weeks, Emily had been living at the hospital. They'd stopped her labour, much to everyone's relief but three hours short of being discharged and the pains had started up again. The third time it happened, the doctor had ordered that a private room be made ready and she had been admitted into full-time care on the maternity ward. Family and friends had helped her settle into the room and had filled it with familiar things and bright flowers. Unfortunately for her, the continuous exposure to the smell of the flowers in the closed in room; something that was unavoidable as she became less mobile; had caused a reaction. It wasn't hay-fever, just a persistent nausea that had eased one day as all her old flowers had been binned. The doctor had thought the nausea was just a side-effect of the late pregnancy, but after eight days of the constant sensation, to have it suddenly end as her room became flower free, the doctor had been immediately suspicious. It had been almost a day later before Aaron turned up after a case with a huge bunch of gorgeous roses of all colours and it had been absolute horror as the nausea came back so strong that she'd ended up being violently ill. The roses were removed and the illness eased. And that was the end of pretty flowers in her room.

_Just goes to show what I know, huh?_

"Well this is very exciting. It means I can have flowers in my room again. You, Jack Hotchner, are a genius."

Jack wiggled a little in happiness and she exchanged a smile with Aaron as he leaned over his sons head and gently kissed her.

"I checked with the doctor and he agreed that you had been very good. So to reward that goodness, Jack and I thought we'd take you down to the pool and let you float in the water for a while. How does that sound?"

_Orgasmic!_

"That sounds like the perfect way to spend the next hour."

Julia bounced in a minute later with a wheelchair and shooed the males out of the room. She then helped Emily ease in a t-shirt and shorts that she could swim in. Then they were on their way and she listened attentively to all that Jack had been up to since the weekend three days ago.

They arrived at the pool to find the room was empty and with a happy shout, Jack wriggled out of his clothes, into his swimmers and ran for the pool. Emily shook her head and sighed.

"That kid has _way_ too much energy for his own good, and mine right now."

Aaron chuckled softly as he helped her to stand and make her slow way to the ramp leading into the water at a gentle angle. It was rare to find the water therapy room empty like this, but except for Jack's energetic fish-imitation, she was going to thoroughly enjoy this quiet time. Aaron steadied her, handed her a noodle to float on and stepped back just slightly to let her find her balance on her own. She had no doubt whatsoever though, that if she needed him, he'd be there in a flash.

She sank down into the water as she tucked the noodle up into her armpits and just like that, the heavy pressure and pain she felt constantly disappeared as the water buoyed her exhausted body. She closed her eyes and let the water work its magic as she listened to Aaron swim with Jack while he answered the child's many baby questions.

She didn't know how long she'd been in the water when she felt her back pain make a comeback. Having spent countless hours in the water because it was such a great natural painkiller she was taken by surprise at the intensity of the ache. Shifting her body slightly, she reached down with her feet to see if she could touch the ground and had to grit her teeth as the extension of her foot caused her additional pain. Looking around for Aaron, all she could see was his legs as he obviously taught Jack to do handstands underwater.

By the time he came back up, the pain had gone away completely and she had decided to let it go. If she said something now, he'd rush her out of the pool faster than she could tell him it was no big deal and she'd spend the rest of the day feeling like she was in a Petri dish under a microscope as her monitoring increased to _all the time_ as opposed to _a lot of the time_.

_No, I'll wait until I really have something to report. Once is not enough to raise an alarm. Not yet. And besides, I don't want to mess with Jack's fun for no reason._

The second time it happened her small cry of pain was lost in the water fight occurring at the other end of the pool. Again, she let it go as the pain eased, smiling as she watched her family so relaxed as they played. The third time it happened made it unavoidable that something was happening.

Emily shifted the noodle again and sighed. She'd had it in the most perfect position until that last pain had curled her body in on itself. Now she couldn't get it back into the right angle to keep her well balanced. She was tiring herself out as she kept shifting it and was pretty close to just asking Aaron to take her back to her room. She must have been in here for almost an hour now anyway and all she really wanted now was a nap. However, she made one last attempt to get it back in the right position, but because she'd moved it out from her body and let go with one hand to shift her top back straight after it had twisted around her slightly, she was unsupported as the excruciating back pain came back and slid around to the front of her abdomen.

Without the noodle underneath her, her concentration shot by the pain, she sank under the water without realising what was happening and took in water as she cried out. Her panic was instantaneous as she realised there was no air, but the pain made it nearly impossible to move in any way.

_I wonder if I'll die here, with no oxygen, because I was so stubborn that I ignored all the signs? My children alive while I die by drowning. How sad._

Her vision was narrowing down to nothing from the lack of air when a hand closed over her arm and pulled her upright.

She came up coughing water and crying, too weak to do anything but pray that whoever held her wouldn't let her go as the pain continued to strengthen and the pressure in her lower abdomen increased beyond anything she'd ever felt before. Then the pressure exploded briefly followed by the pain easing and she realised that Aaron was moving them quickly through the water towards the ramp while he called to Jack to run and get the doctor.

Then he was gently placing her down into the wheelchair and crouching down in front of her.

"Emily, are you alright?" His hands settled anxiously on her face, his eyes worried as he looked at her.

_My hero..._

"Emily!"

"I'm alright," she whispered. "Thanks to you. I was _so_ scared; I couldn't breathe." Just like that she was crying again and he was holding her tenderly and whispering that everything would be alright. Then Jack was back with doctors and nurses following quickly and everything around her dissolved into controlled chaos.

Aaron called Jess and asked her to come collect Jack. She admitted to being three hours away visiting friends, so he told her not to worry and called Dave. His friend was thankfully just parking the car in preparation for visiting Emily and was there within minutes to take Jack into hand as the midwife arrived to do an ultrasound so that a decision could be made about how they would proceed with the delivery.

Emily clung to Aaron's hand and wished that she wasn't wet as she started to shiver. Then she felt entirely guilty about all her nasty thoughts about Julia over the last few weeks as the young nurse hurried in with a pile of towels and blankets. She used the towels to quickly wipe off a lot of the excess moisture and to wrap her hair up temporarily to keep it from dripping all over everything before wrapping her up in the warm blankets.

"Right then, looks like we've got two babies in breach positions and only one facing in the right direction. Emily, I know you wanted a nice, natural delivery, but I'm afraid you're going to need a c-section. In light of their prematurity, heart rates are dropping and all of them are already showing increasing distress with every one of your contractions. I'm also concerned about your heart rate and blood pressure. Add to that your dunking in the pool and the water you inhaled, and it is just going to be safer for everyone concerned. Alright?"

Emily nodded tiredly. The doctor instructed Julia to help her change in preparation for the surgery and left. Another nurse arrived a minute later with a shot that would relax her for the surgery. Then she was being wheeled out of the room and Aaron was pulled away.

_Aaron..._

"Aaron! No, I'm not going..."

"Easy Emily, easy. Hey, look at me; there you go. Aaron's just getting all gowned up and then he'll be right back at your side for the delivery. I promise you, he won't be gone for long and the doctor will wait for him to be there before he gets started. I promise. Have I ever lied to you?" She shook her head slowly and took a breath. Julia patted her shoulder gently and gave her an encouraging smile as they entered the theatre. "I'll be right here too, telling you what's happening since you won't be able to see around the sheet they put up. You won't be alone through this, I promise."

Then Aaron was back at her side and Julia was talking soothingly to her as her eyes flicked around the room, taking in everything and finding that she was just a little bit frightened by it all.

"Okay, the Anesthesiologist is Doug and he has just started your epidural and this means that it won't be long now before you are in a happy state of physical numbness; then the doctor can start the surgery. Can you see the three big block-like machines over to the side behind Aaron?" When Emily nodded slowly, she continued, "These are where your children are first going to be placed when they come out of you and they're called incubators. One doctor and two nurses work with each incubator; so that's one team for every baby; so that they'll be able to provide the very best care to your children from the very second they are born. Do you understand all this?"

Emily nodded, her fear melting away as understanding dawned. Then Julia announced that the doctor had started the surgery and another brief moment of fear hit her as she wondered if she could truly do this. Then Julia was telling her the doctor had made it to her womb and was easing out her first child.

_I used to think the sweetest sound in the world was hearing 'I love you', but it pales in comparison to hearing your baby's first cry...oh, wow..._

"Congratulations Emily and Aaron; your firstborn is a..."

**End**

**A/N: Wicked, I know, but you all know me by now and should have expected something along these lines. Actually, cutting it off there was a last minute decision, but it just seemed so appropriate to the moment. I really hope you don't mind.**

**Please review and let me know what you think with the conveniently placed button right below this request. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I know how evil I am, making you all wait for a second instalment, but I pretty much had it finished on the tail end of writing the first chapter; I just decided at the moment that I posted to leave you all in suspense. I'm glad to know you don't all hate me.**

**The response to the first chapter made me giggle because I got royally scolded and encouraged all in the same reviews. Thanks so much to Danzjaron, megameighteen, HGRHfan35, greengirl82, melodic2686, Wtiger5, Hazmatt and anonymous (whoever you are, thank you). And just so you all know, I don't mind getting anonymous reviews at all. I prefer to have a name so I can thank you properly, but I'm quite happy regardless...I really am a review hussy. **

**I totally couldn't do this without my amazing beta, medical guru and sister Wtiger5. I love and adore you honey; thanks just doesn't begin to cover it for me.**

**This is Life's Wishes 10 and has some mild adult themes.**

The Joy of Life - Chapter 2

"Little mamma, little mamma, may we come in?"

Emily looked up from the baby in her arms and smiled warmly at Penelope and JJ as they filled her doorway with the guys crowding in behind them. She could faintly see the outline of balloons that someone was holding and by the looks of things, all of them had gifts in their hands.

She laughed softly and beckoned them in. "Aaron and Jack will be here shortly with the other two. This little princess was simply the first one to get done with the doctor."

"So you have at least one girl? Because Aaron didn't tell me anything when he came to get Jack," Dave jumped in quickly.

Emily shot him a mysterious smile, causing him to mutter something no doubt uncomplimentary under his breath. JJ shot him a dark look and Penelope stomped on his foot as she moved closer to the bed and peered around the blanket, leaving him hopping and trying not to swear behind her. Then she straightened up abruptly.

"Sorry, I didn't realise you were feeding her."

Emily laughed again and shifted the blanket a little higher as everyone in the room turned around.

"Seriously guys, it isn't that big of a deal. I seem to have lost most of my modesty in the wake of the surgery. If you're all comfortable being here, make yourselves comfortable. I'm almost done anyway."

"What about the other two?"

"I fed them before they went for their check-ups while this one was getting hers done. Now I'm feeding her while I wait for the other two...and here they are."

With everyone turned towards Aaron and Jack as they proudly walked in behind the nurse pushing the wheeled bed, Emily finished feeding her daughter and slipped her bra and top back into place before she moved to burp her.

"_Yellow_ blankets. How on earth did you two score yellow blankets in a hospital," Penelope demanded as she attempted to figure out just from the faces what the sex of the two other Hotchner babies might be.

_She's so cute with her nose all screwed up like that._

Emily yawned slightly and settled back as a nice burp met her ears.

"Oh, that was just beautiful darling. The best burp of the three of you. You'll definitely end up being your big brothers favourite sister if you keep that up. He likes burping, though why I have yet to fathom."

Aaron interrupted her by lifting Jack up onto the bed beside her so he could snuggle in to her side. She wrapped her spare arm around him and kissed the top of his head lightly as he peered at his sister.

"She's asleep," he said, his tone laced with soft disgust. "All they do is sleep. When will I ever get to play with them?"

_Don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh...hard to avoid when everyone else is smiling around you. Don't look, don't laugh and you'll be fine._

"Remember what we said when we told you they were coming buddy?" Jack turned to look at his father, sitting up straighter when he saw the baby his father held in his arms. "It'll be a while before they're big enough to play with you. But don't worry, soon enough you'll have three of them chasing you around. Now, do you want to hold one while we tell everyone what their names are?"

Jack nodded eagerly and carefully held out both his arms like Emily showed him. A minute later, Jack beamed out at everyone as he carefully cradled his bundle of baby.

"Well," Dave demanded crossly. "Kill the suspense already and tell us what happened."

Emily rolled her eyes and Aaron raised his eyebrows. "Really Dave, they say patience is a virtue."

Dave actually growled and Emily lost it laughing, careful though of the child in her arms and the baby she was keeping a close eye on in Jack's.

Aaron suppressed a laugh of his own as he settled at the end of Emily's bed and proceeded to recall what had occurred the morning of the day before.

New Section

"Congratulations Emily and Aaron; your firstborn is a girl. And you can be _very_ happy with the lungs on her."

_Breathe through the need to cry...if you cry, you won't be able to see properly._

"Emily." She opened her eyes at the awe she heard in Aaron's voice to find a masked nurse holding a squirming, blood-covered, screaming baby in front of her. Her breath caught in her throat and she had to swallow the emotion down hard as she carefully reached out a hand to lightly touch her.

The nurse turned her head as her name was called and then turned back to them. "You can see her in a bit, but she needs to be weighed and measured and we need to make sure there isn't anything that is going to immediately affect her health. We'll just be right over there."

Emily nodded reluctantly as the nurses eyes crinkled with what had to be an understanding smile and then she was out of sight as Aaron moved back in close to her side and the doctor announced, "Okay, snip that there...and here she is, another little girl for you. Those lungs are a wonderful sound. Breathing is always the first thing to worry about in multiples and premmies, but these girls of yours definitely don't seem to have that problem."

Again Emily could only look on with awe as her second daughter was held in front of her for a minute before being whisked off out of sight by the nurse from the second team.

"Okay, one more and we're done. How're you feeling there Emily?"

_How _am_ I feeling?_

"I'm alright. I just want to hold them so much."

The doctor chuckled lightly as he murmured something to a nurse before he answered. "We'll get you to that stage as soon as humanly possible. We need to take care of you first, and they need to see their NICU teams before we can get to the cuddles stage; however, hearing the lungs on them, I don't think that will take too long."

Emily nodded slightly and took a deep breath as nausea threatened. Julia must have been watching her, because she smiled sympathetically.

"Not to worry; the nausea is normal due to the drugs being used. Just let me know immediately if you think you might throw up, alright?"

She nodded again as the doctor chuckled. "Love it everyone. It's raining girls today, not men, cause baby number three is a girl too. Congratulations Emily and Aaron, you have three beautiful baby girls. And I've been doing this long enough that I'm pretty certain I can tell you just from my brief glimpses of them that they're going to be identical. The two of you are going to have a handful. You might want to buy a shotgun Mr Hotchner, particularly if they grow up looking like your wife."

Aaron grinned as he gently stroked Emily's soft cheek. "I already have two handguns and a badge; they'll be more than enough."

Emily smiled agreement as they shared a heartfelt kiss.

New Section

"You have _one_ son and _three_ daughters?" Reid squeaked in surprise.

"Did you know that was what you were having?" JJ asked as she tried to soothe Reid.

"We had no clue throughout the pregnancy. When we first wanted to know, they couldn't get the right angles and then we just decided that it didn't matter. That's why we asked for neutral colours like whites, yellows and greens for all the clothing. And since none of us are really fans of anything pink, that works out well for now."

"Until Auntie Penelope gets her hands on them you mean," Derek said teasingly.

Emily eyed Penelope closely and said firmly, "Mummy and Auntie Penelope are having words before Auntie Penelope gets to the stage where she can corrupt her children."

Everyone laughed as Penelope pouted, though she too laughed before asking, "Are they well?"

Aaron nodded and tucked the blanket closer around the child in his arms, watching as her eyes opened sleepily and she looked up at him.

_Oh wow..._

Emily smiled at the soft, wondrous look on Aaron's face and answered Penelope's question. "They're surprising well for being six weeks early and being born in their distressed states. They're on the small side, too small for a couple of their doctors liking, so they'll be here for a couple of weeks until they put on a little more weight, but health-wise they're perfect. Their lungs are wonderfully developed and everything else is in the right place and proportion."

Everyone sighed in relief and laughed softly. It was Derek who asked the question everyone wanted to know the answer to. "So now that we know what you have, and that they're alright, what are their names?"

Everyone looked eagerly at the Hotchners and Emily and Aaron shared a loving look before prompting Jack.

Jack looked up with a proud smile. "I'm holding the oldest, cause she came out of Mummy's tummy first, and I got to pick her name from the list that Mummy and Daddy gave me. So I decided her name is Lily May Hotchner."

Everyone agreed that it was a wonderful name for the beautiful little girl in Jack's arms.

Aaron continued, "In the interests of fairness, we each chose a name for the girls, so no one would feel left out. And to be honest, the names that were chosen are just completely perfect for each of these precious little girls. I have the middle girl and for her name, I chose Catherine Anne Hotchner."

"I'm surprised that you didn't go the route of naming all your children by the same initial. A lot of parents with multiples do that."

Emily shrugged. "We aren't going conventional routes with our children. None of this common naming business and under no circumstances _dressing_ them in the same clothes. They will have their own personalities and they will be encouraged and loved in _all_ their individuality. Am I clear?" Once she was sure they all understood, she softened her attitude and smiled at everyone. "This precious little princess in my arms is our youngest. And because we aren't common, her name is Sophia Joy Hotchner."

"Lily, Catherine and Sophia," JJ said softly and sighed happily. "That's just beautiful guys."

Penelope aimed a huge smile at everyone and stated happily, "Lily, Catherine and Sophia, welcome to the family."

**End**

**A/N: I hope you like my choice of three girls and their names. I thought about evening things out, but just decided that this was better.**

**The way you review has now changed, much to my surprise. It doesn't however change how much I love knowing what you think of what I write. So please fill out the box below with a few (or a lot of) words and let me know what you think. **


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